The present invention relates to an improved construction of double panel sliding door, namely a door for an elevator for humans, for a cargo or goods-lift or the like, with a door frame and, associated with each panel, a panel suspension and guiding arrangement including rollers cooperating with at least one guiding rail, by means of which the panel is supported by the door frame.
In known double panel sliding doors, each panel is carried by the door frame by means of a panel guiding and suspension arrangement which comprises at least one guiding rail provided on the upper part of the door frame, on which there are displaceable rollers carried by the panel or by a support member secured at the upper end of the panel. Such sliding doors are illustrated, for example, in Swiss Pat. Nos. 365,844 and 369,567. This known arrangement has the inconvenience of requiring that the guiding rails extend laterally beyond the door frame. This is so because in the open position of the panels they must be supported by the guiding rails almost entirely beyond the frame of the door. While in the case of telescopic double panel doors, these extensions are necessary on only one side of the frame of the door, they are provided on both sides when the doors are of the central opening type, that is when their panels slide on the guiding rail in opposite directions. These guiding rail portions that extend beyond the frame of the door are cumbersome, namely they render the transportation of complete doors more difficult, are bothersome during loading on a transportation vehicle as well as during the handling of the doors at building sites or at different floors of buildings under construction where the doors must be installed. During transportation or handling, it may happen that the guiding rail portions extending beyond the frame become warped or damaged. Furthermore, particularly with respect to landing doors providing a wide opening, it is often necessary that these guiding rail parts be secured to the masonry.